**FULL QUESTION**
Dear Gardening Life,
I live in Bristol, CT (Zone 6). I have Asiatic and Oriental lilies, shasta daisies, tulips and coneflowers in a raised flower bed. They all came up beautifully last year, blooms as big as my hands. At the end of the bloom period for each flower, I cut back most of the dead foliage, and in the fall, I took the bulbs out (leaving the perennials in place) plunked in bulb food, spaced them out 6-12 inches apart and about 6 inches deep with some mulch on top for the winter.
Most did not come back. Some tulips came up but the buds were very small and the lilies had few if any flowers. I fertilized a few times already, I water and they get about six hours of sun. What am I doing or not doing? Should I just give up gardening? This is my second year.
*—Veronica*
**ANSWER**
Dear Veronica,
Oh, please don’t give up. Rest assured that plants will do their best to grow, in spite of us! In fact, I think you are doing too much. Bulbs are easy-care plants really. First, hardy bulbs like lilies and tulips, once planted, don’t need to be taken out. Plant them and, after the first year, feed them in early spring just as they shoots are emerging. A good mulch of compost and/or well-rotted manure is ideal, or an application of a liquid balanced fertilizer (one labelled 10-10-10, for example). Then, most important, once the bulbs have flowered, leave all the foliage in place until it has completely died off (gone brown or yellow). The leaves are feeding the bulb for the following year so don’t cut them off while they are green.
Another reason for loss of vigour is poor drainage. Bulbs will rot in very wet soil, so make sure you have well-draining soil and don’t worry about watering them in summer; they like it hot and dry. They also don’t flower well if too shaded; six hours of sun should be ok, but more would be better. That said, some of the modern hybrid tulips are not as long lasting as some other bulbs. I suggest you try some species tulips, crocuses, grape hyacinths and daffodils, for a beautiful spring display.
Good luck!
*Karen York, GL Botanical Editor*
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